Parking
From Blanket Bay Road, follow the signed turn for Point Franklin, Crayfish Bay and Parker Hill; cross the cattle grid and take the right-hand descent to the small carpark.
Overview
About Point Franklin and Crayfish Bay Walk
Why go
- The beach and cliff-top return make a compact loop.
- Low-tide pools and a view across Otway Reef.
Heads up
- The cliff-top return is narrow and can be overgrown.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Great Otway map
Full mapElevation0–41 m
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
3 active Great Otway alerts
- ClosureWye Road closed after storm and flood damageWye Road is closed until further notice because recent storm and flood damage requires road maintenance and repair works; plan around the closure.Official details
- ClosureLorne-area walking trails closed after flood damageSome walking trails near Lorne are closed for public safety after the January 2026 flash floods washed away or severely damaged bridges and walkways.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Great Otway Tour Guide
Your drive to Point Franklin and Crayfish Bay Walk, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Great Otway National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Great Otway audio tourRecorded for this trailhead
Parker Hill and Crayfish Bay: The Coastal Loop0:00 / 0:26
“You’re approaching the turnoff for Parker Hill and Crayfish Bay. For a short coastal outing, I’d choose the Crayfish Bay loop from Point Franklin car park, taking about forty minutes plus time on the shore.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Great Otway Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- A Daisy That Grows into a Tree
- The Gull That Drops Its Dinner
- Cape Otway Lightstation
- A Sea Star's Hidden Feet
- 252 audio storiesacross Great Otway’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Koala, Grey Kangaroo, Echidna, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 83 trails, 79 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Point Franklin and Crayfish Bay Walk
A short beach-and-clifftop loopThe Point Franklin and Crayfish Bay Walk is a 0.93-mile (1.
The Point Franklin and Crayfish Bay Walk is a 0.93-mile (1.49 km) loop from Point Franklin Carpark. It follows the beach toward the bay, then returns along a narrow cliff-top path. Allow about 40 minutes, plus time at the shore. It is a brief outing, but the return track can be overgrown.
Rock pools, grottos and the reefSmall grottos sit at the far end of the first beach.
Small grottos sit at the far end of the first beach. At low tide, more rock pools are exposed along the reef shelves. As the path climbs above the cove, look back across Crayfish Bay and Otway Reef; Cape Otway Lighthouse is visible far along the coast. The rising path gives the clearest view of the cove and reef together.
Getting to the startFrom Blanket Bay Road, follow the signed turn for Point Franklin, Crayfish Bay and Parker Hill.
From Blanket Bay Road, follow the signed turn for Point Franklin, Crayfish Bay and Parker Hill. Cross the cattle grid and take the right-hand downhill branch to the small carpark. At the junction, Crayfish Bay is signed right and Point Franklin left. Point Franklin has a picnic table, but no water is listed there. Dogs are not allowed in Great Otway National Park except under assistance-dog requirements.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Great Otway
204 sightingsKoalaMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
35 sightingsGrey KangarooMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
109 sightingsEchidnaMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
58 sightingsKookaburraMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
97 sightingsSwamp WallabyMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
20 sightingsBrushtail PossumMost seen around 8 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Great Otway. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
